Southeastern Drag Bike Association
Custom Croz’s Cycles I-75 Classic
Brainerd Motorsports Park – Ringgold, GA
May 9, 2020
Coverage by Tom McCarty
Inaugural Event READY 2 RACE
Race day for the one-day event, inaugural Southeastern Drag Bike Association’s first hit of the 2020 season started early for race promoters Sonny Vick and Brian Dale of Georgia. They were at the track before 7AM, getting things ready. The gates opened promptly at 7AM, with more racers filing into the already bulging pit area. Attendance for a first race (new sanction) was well received by the hungry racers.
The grandstand side of the pits (LS), filled up almost to capacity on Friday, despite the rain out that day. Well over 100 entries bought into Tech and more than half of them were Tech’d in during Friday’s rainy, drizzling day. The rains came fully just about 10AM Friday morning and either showers or drizzle persisted right up to 8PM Friday night. Yet the racers, starving for action after the COVID-19 Pandemic shut down of racing, were eager to get their drag bikes out and enjoy some hammer-time.
Tech on Saturday morning was open and hosting bikes before 8am and the call to the lanes for test & tune came just after 9:30. At 9:45 AM the first pair of drag bikes hit the 1/8th mile surface of Brainerd Motorsports Park (BMP).
The overall game plan today is T/T from start till, 11:45, with qualifying (two rounds) to begin at 12 noon, starting with Brock’s Street ET, followed by MPS Pro ET, 865 Racing 6.0 Index, Liguori Super Comp, Schnitz Racing Top Gas, Weeks Performance 4.60 class and HTP Performance, Super Stock. All rounds of class competition will be followed by a round of Junior Dragsters.
Eliminations for this event are slated to being at 4PM today. The previously stated run order will be in effect, subject to change, all day.
The actual race day activities started off well in the morning, but there were a few thrills and spills which caused minor delays. These delays have a way of adding up by later in the day and the cumulative effect was the 4PM target start time actually kicked off with the National Anthem at 3:45 PM, followed by E-1, an essential buy-back round for Brock’s Performance Street ET and MPS Pro ET. This served to square up the start times for the two respective ET classes. This round was followed by Q-2 for the Index classes of 6.0, S/C, T/G, 4.60 and S/Stk. Once this entire round was completed around dinner time, this set the stage for eliminations.
In the late afternoon on Saturday, for the classes of Street ET and Pro ET; chips were drawn for rider pairings. Each chip had a paring number on it with a letter L or R for that racer’s assigned lane. The entire competition sessions for the aforementioned classes were done this way, every round, to pair up the racers. Meanwhile, standard competition ladders were set up for the index classes. Each slot on the ladder contained a racer’s competition number, to establish the field.
After the E-2 round of the two ET classes, with their eliminations well established, the 865 sponsored class of 6.0 Index kicked off the first round of eliminations for the Index racing classes at just after 7PM. Late into the night, Chris Johnson (6.01) defeated Dusty Brazel (5.95) for the win in 865 Racing, 6.0 index. Corey Lee was the #1 qualifier in 6-Oh with a 6.06.
Liguori Drag Racing Super Comp
Winner: Dustin Lee
Runner-up: Boo Brown
In Liguori Drag Racing sponsored Super Comp, Richard Gadson was the #1 qualifier. Their first round of competition took place as the sun was setting on the track. This makes seeing the starting-tree most difficult and to combat this, the track has a large metal plate as a sun-blocker, to shadow the lights. The twenty-seven racers entered super comp and gave it their best shot and round after round, they went into the night. The winner for the class was Dustin Lee, who defeated Boo Brown, to claim first prize, at just about midnight.
Schnitz Racing Top Gas
Winner: Dalton Markham
Runner-up: Chris Morris
In Schnitz Racing sponsored Top Gas action, 15 racers entered the fray with Dalton Markham of KY, taking the win over Chris Morris. His dad, John Markham commented, “This is his first-ever Top Gas race and he won it!” Big day for the Markham family. The #1 qualifier for T/G was Chris Harvey.
Weeks Performance 4.60
The ultra-quick Weeks Performance 4.60 class had 13 contestants, with Mac McAdams coming out on top, after the tire smoke cleared. Mac defeated Ronnie Procopio in the final round at 11:30 PM. These monsters of high performance were flying at BMP with Rock Sanders taking the #1 qualifying spot by posting a fine 4.606 during qualifying.
HTP Performance Super Stock
Winner: Richard Gadson
Runner-up: Patrick Cooper
HTP Performance Super Stock class, featured a slim three racer entry field in the very difficult class which saw Richard Gadson clock in as the #1 qualifier, posting a 5.96 elapsed time. During eliminations, Richard went on to win the event over Patrick Cooper with a 6.06 ET to Patrick’s 6.65 to earn his first trip to the winner’s circle and wrap-up Super Stock racing.
MPS Pro ET
Winner: Ronnie Woodall Sr
Runner-up: Scott Sheppard
MPS Pro ET was won by Ronnie Woodall Sr.and the R/U was Scott Sheppard.
Brock’s Performance Street ET
Winner: Shaun BIzzette
Runner-up: Dustin Lee
In Brock’s Performance Street ET, Shaun BIzzette won with Dustin Lee in the R/U spot. Then final run of the day was run at 12:12PM, with deep thanks to the management and staff of Brainerd Motorsports Park for hanging tough and finishing this race.
All things considered this was a good start for a fledgling sanction. The promoters learned a lot and the racers got a much-needed chance to shake off the dust from the COVID-19 delays to the 2020 racing season. The SDBA’s next event will be on June 20th, In Crossville, TN. Please see SDBA website for details.
SATURDAY
10:00 am
Race day for the inaugural Southeastern Drag Bike Association’s first hit of the 2020 season is busy with more racers filing into the already bulging pit area.
The grandstand side of the pits filled up almost to capacity on Friday, despite it being a rained out test day. Well over 100 entries Tech’d in on Friday as racers are hungry for action after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down were eager to get their drag bikes out and enjoy some hammer-time.
Tech this morning was open and hosting bikes before 8am and the call to the lanes for test & tune came just after 9:30. At 9:45 AM the first pair of drag bikes hit the 1/8th mile surface of Brainerd Motorsports Park (BMP).
The overall game plan today is testing until, 11:45, with qualifying to begin at noon, starting with Brock’s Street ET, followed by MPS Pro ET, 865 Racing 6.0 Index, Liguori Super Comp, Schnitz Racing Top Gas, Weeks Performance 4.60 class and HTP Performance, Super Stock. All rounds of class competition will be followed by a round of Junior Dragsters.
Eliminations for this event will begin at 4 PM today. The previously stated run order will be in effect, subject to change, all day.
FRIDAY
On Friday morning SDBA gates opened on time with a line of racers in wait. Tech was ready early and busy. Racers from across the southeast and mid-America began filing in with their rigs. By 10AM things were looking good with several dozen racing trailers in the pits with more coming in every hour.
Unfortunately, we are on a weather hold at 11:30 am as the skies opened up with a shower. As soon as conditions permit, the event will progress. Keep an eye on Dragbike.com for updates as soon as conditions dictate.
THURSDAY
The SDBA, headed up by Sonny Vick and Brian Dale began on-site operations today for their very first race as a new sanction, devoted to sportsman racing. “This began with a phone call in December of 2019” recalls co-owner of the SDBA, Sonny Vick. “I called Brian Dale and said I wanted to bounce an idea off him about creating a local southeast regional motorcycle drag racing series. I felt we needed local racing for local racers who just didn’t really have the time and money to drive 5-6 hours to an event.” Brian Dale chimed in “After we talked about it for a bit I said, I think we could make this happen and do it right. Do you want to be partners on this?”
And so the SDBA was formed in the winter of 2019, going into the year 2020. But due to circumstances, no one had the foresight of 20-20 vision to see the COVID-19 pandemic coming their way, so the first two races for SDBA, Man Cup, and XDA, were all canceled during the March/April time frame. But that is the past and this Saturday the SDBA will send drag bikes down the 1/8th mile track of Brainerd Motorsports Park, in Ringgold, GA.
The SDBA is hosting its first event in a simple fashion with a full day of test & tune on Friday, followed by the one-day event on Saturday. There will be time trials on race day, from 9am to 11:45 AM. Then a virtual driver’s meeting will be held, live on Facebook, prior to the two rounds of qualifying, noon to 3:30-ish. Eliminations are slated to begin at 4 PM, till race completion.
The run order all weekend is set to be Brock’s Performance Street ET, MPS sponsored Pro ET, 865 Racing 6.0 Index, Liguori Drag Racing Super Comp, Schnitz Racing Top Gas, Weeks Performance 4.60 and HTP Performance Super Stock. The bikes each round will also be followed by a round of Jr. Dragsters.
The title sponsor for the SDBA 2020 racing series is Rob Bush Motorsports, who is a pillar of the motorcycle drag racing community, always eager to support motorcycle drag racing. “We had no trouble getting sponsors to come on board and support our racing classes. All seven of our competition classes are fully supported” commented Brian Dale, who will co-serve as race director this event.
For full event information such as class rules, and payout information, go to southeasterndragbike.com. This weekend’s event is being held at Brainerd Motorsports Park 745 Scruggs Rd, Ringgold, GA, 30736. Friday is all day test-n-tune, Saturday test-n-tune from 9-11:45, Q-1 @ 12 Noon, Q-2 at 2:30, and eliminations begin at 4PM.
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– Tom McCarthy |
2020 Motorcycle Drag Racing Schedule
- Voodoo Industries First Annual Series Opener
March 29th / Crossville Dragway – Crossville, TN - Voodoo Industries Spring Fling
April 25th / London Dragway – London, KY - Croz’s Custom Cycle I-75 Classic
May 9th / Brainerd Motorsports Park – Ringgold, GA - Hard Times Parts & Service Summer Showdown
July 18th / Knoxville Dragstrip – Knoxville, TN - Sonny’s Birthday Bash presented by RV Avocados
August 1st / Alabama International Dragway – Steele, AL - BB Racing Fall Smackdown
September 5th / Crossville Dragway – Crossville, TN - Testa Racing Engines Bike Fest
October 10th / Knoxville Dragstrip – Knoxville, TN - Allstate Scenic City Final Showdown
October 24th / Brainerd Motorsports Park – Ringgold, GA
2020 Entry Fees and Payouts
SDBA only permits 2-wheel motorcycles to enter an event. Three or Four-wheel vehicles are prohibited from entering a class at SDBA. For more information on class rules, click here.
- Schnitz Racing Top Gas
- MPS Racing Pro ET
- HTP Performance Super Stock
- Liguori Super Comp
- Brocks Performance Street ET
- 865 Racing 6.0 Index
Get more information at Southeasterndragbike.com and join the Facebook group, click here.
